Blue is the most popular colour and, as Yves Saint Laurent often stated, the most sartorial of all. The subtle cobalt dial and rubber strap of the Zenith Defy El Primero 21 Blue with its dashing 44mm case contours certainly offers style credentials that rank as high as its technical ones.

For more than 150 years, luxury Swiss watchmaker Zenith has made some of the finest sports timers. During this time, it’s been awarded in excess of 2,000 prizes in the field of precision chronometry and at the core of the brand is the art of the chronograph stopwatch function, called El Primero. When the movement launched in 1969, it could time events to an accuracy of one-tenth of a second. Now the new Defy collection’s hero model, the Defy El Primero 21, can time to a ridiculously accurate one-hundredth of a second. Assuming your reactions are fast enough on the ‘stop’ button, of course.

But as much as the micro-mechanics transfix – you can glimpse their tiny constellation through the skeletonised dial – this lightweight racing engine for the wrist in brushed titanium punches above its weight in the suave style stakes too. This high-concept sports timepiece will be a compelling, characterful companion whether teamed with sharp tailoring or off-duty casuals.

Defy El Primero 21 Blue; £9,600; zenith-watches.com